Obit of Edwin C. Kapper

Edwin C. Kapper, 81 of Chatsworth, IL, died on Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at 10:55 pm at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at 11:00 am at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Chatsworth with Fr. B. Rogers officiating. Burial will be in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Chatsworth, with full military rites. A visitation will be held on Monday from 4:00-7:00 pm at Calvert & Martin Funeral Home in Chatsworth with the rosary being recited at 3:30. Memorials in Edwin’s name may be left to American Cancer Society.

Edwin was born on September 9, 1932 in Olney, IL, a son of Cornelius “Neil” and Johanna (Dumstorff) Kapper. He married Mina Halsey on November 24, 1955 in Olney, IL. She preceded him in death on April 23, 1994.

He is survived by two sons: Edwin (Kim) Kapper of DeKalb, IL and Tom (Shawn) Kapper of Madison, WI; two daughters: Cindy Hanauer and Janet Kapper both of Normal, IL: six grandchildren: Brent (Mary) Kapper, Aaron Kapper, Daniel Kapper, Kimberly Kapper, Michael Olson and Emily Olson; four brothers: Lester Kapper of North Carolina, Bill Kapper of Indiana, Jim Kapper of Illinois and Jerry Kapper of Illinois and five sisters: Jean Stacy of Oklahoma, Eileen Beuthien of Michigan, Mary Dowty of Illinois, Janice Morgan of Illinois and Marjorie Blunt of Illinois. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister: Judy Crosby.

Edwin graduated from Olney High School. He served our country in the United States Army from December of 1952 until October of 1954, serving in Korea. He attended college on the GI Bill, graduating from Eastern Illinois University in 1960. He taught history and government at Chatsworth High School and Prairie Central High School for over 35 years. On school breaks he spent working as a carpenter, enjoying the outdoors and being able to see the completed projects of his labor. He was a member of St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Chatsworth and the Chatsworth American Legion.

Ed was reserved and kind. He had a dry sense of humor and appreciated a joke. He took comfort in his church and served in the choir until the time of his passing. He never lost his taste for Westerns from the movie theaters of his youth and loved the “western channel” later in life. His wife preceded him in death, but he soldiered on for 20 more summers, time enough to see his grandchildren grow up and become the wonderful legacy of his strong sense of good and fairness in dealing with all aspects of life. He was, in a sense, an ordinary man. But everyone is extraordinary to some people in some ways. He had idiosyncrasies. He always wore shoes, even in the house. He never ever wore shorts. Amazingly, growing up his children never heard him swear, not once. His children always remember his hands were always warm, and they were still warm at the end. And every Christmas, in a joking way he said all he wanted was a kind word. This is it.